Bruised, battered but unbowed

Tony O’Brien: ‘I found that HSE staff and management seemed to have been beaten down by constant criticism of the health service’ Picture: Fergal Phillips

Last May, Tony O’Brien resigned as head of the HSE over the CervicalCheck controversy. Stung by what he feels was unfair treatment, he calls for a ‘sense of decorum and fairness’ to ‘return to Irish political life and the mainstream media’

Tony O’Brien is in a reflective mood when we sit down near his home in Co Louth, some months after his abrupt exit from the HSE. You might expect that he would be angry and out for revenge. He was, after all, vilified by the opposition, hounded by the media and abandoned by the government as the CervicalCheck debacle convulsed the nation.